What are the 1 or 2 values that you wish were embraced and lived out by those you work with? When it comes to the team you lead, what value do you hold that you wish those on your team held to the same degree of importance?

What 1-2 values top your list? What would you name or call that value that is most important to you? These could range from a varying list of examples like integrity, honesty, win-at-all-costs, people-over-profit, kindness, collaboration, results-driven, or ?? Generally, think of your values as those important things that do not change with time or due to challenges, threats to success, or wild success. What values rise to the top of your values list as you mentally sift through the myriad possibilities? Jot down 1-2 (or possibly 3) values that are most meaningful to you.

1. Name the Values Most Important to You

How will you define the top 1-2 values that you’d like to see embraced by those you work with and lead? Assumptions get us nearly every time! Let’s be sure that we are not setting ourselves or our teams up for frustration by assuming that “everyone knows what this means,” because they may not define a value just like you do. Describe the dictionary-definition and meaning of each value that you named above.

2. Define the Values Most Important to You

Paper and Pen Work

What does each of these values look like when they are being lived out? How can you describe the behaviors and actions associated with each of these values most important to you? Consider your workplace and team culture. Think about how interactions of team members and those you lead may look and sound when these values are in action.

3. Describe the Behavioral Impact of Each Value

The process of naming, defining, and behaviorally describing each value that you want to live out – AND that you desire those you lead to embrace and live out is powerful for a few reasons. First, it helps you clarify for yourself what values you desire to govern your behavior. Second, it provides you a tangible way to share these values with those they lead. The shared definition of each value helps you all speak the same language. The behavioral description of the values you share provides a pictorial way for others to imagine themselves relative to this value. And third, when you share these values, this equips those on your team to modify their behaviors and attitudes in order for the team to function in a more unified manner as the collective team espouses the same values.

Technology works, too. Just capture your ideas!

4. Share the Values That Matter Most to You with Those You Lead … And Live Them!

Authentically leading from your heart and mind by sharing your top values represents a powerful aspect of the art of leadership. Knowing and sharing the values that matter most to you provide underpinnings of crafting your vision storyline of where you are leading. Or conversely, if you have already written your Vision Storyline for where you are leading, most likely the values that matter most are described in your vision, because they naturally came from your heart.

Great leaders are continually learning. Great leaders are continually developing.

When will you share your values with your team?

I invite you to use these 4 steps to craft your values as a jump-start toward powerful leadership in your learning pursuits.

A. Have you ever seen a team of individuals who brought an uncanny zest and zeal to their work? Have you witnessed a team of people who work together toward a clear and specific goal where every person is skilled, trained, AND loves their role? Have you ever been able to sit back and watch the focused intensity of people engaged in work where their passions are stirred and relied upon? ORB. Have you ever watched a team of individuals come together (or work independently) with a lethargic, “Eeyore complex” as they approached a work project? Have you ever witnessed people moving through the motions of work with little interest or care for the process or results of their contributions?

Generally, people are drawn toward organizations, teams, and work groups where an innate synergy reveals itself in many intangible yet very real ways. I know I would want to engage in work with a group described above in the A. scenario.

We gravitate to work where we are valued. We are drawn toward leaders (employers, managers, team leaders) who demonstrate a desire to know us and our strengths and our passions – and then value these things in us and put them to work.

Most good-willed people desire to contribute to their work in meaningful and important ways. And most often, when we are working in our “passion zone” we bring our best selves to work and contribute in ways that add exceedingly great value to the end result and bottom line.

So as leaders, how do we motivate the people we lead?

Authenticity – it rings true. As leaders we need to know that inauthentic behavior, when we do not do what we say is important, can be spotted in us a mile away by those we lead. So before we can say, “Yeah, I want to get the most and best work out of those I lead…if helping them find their passion will allow me to leverage their passion which equates to better output and performance…show me how to do that!” we need to look at what drives US. As leaders, we need to self-reflect and understand our own passions. We need to work to incorporate our passions in our work.

When we possess authenticity in living our passions in our work, and when we find new levels of motivation in our work because our passions are involved, then we are at a place where we can authentically work with our team members to bring out the best of who they are. Only then are we able to enter into some informal coaching conversations where our role centers on asking the right questions of our team members.

4 Keys to Motivating Your Team Members1. Know your passion.What drives you? What aspects of work do you love? What comes naturally and somewhat easily to you? What makes you respond internally with thoughts of, “I love doing this kind of work!”? More than money, what intrinsic passion is part of who you are that motivates you in your work? Think less about specific tasks and more about the common theme of overarching concepts. For example, it is less about, “Boy, do I sure love to write quarterly reports!” and more about, “I sure love hunting and searching for all of the detail needed to put together a complete and accurate quarterly report!”2. Fuel your fire.How can you incorporate your unique passion in your work? What parts of your current responsibilities require you to use your passion? Can you begin to do more of those things? What might a conversation with your boss sound like where you communicate what that magical blend of work for you is where your passion is tapped into and you execute with excellence? (What manager doesn’t want to see his or her team members execute with excellence?!) How can you mentally focus on the fun involved in your work where your passion area is utilized?3. Help others discover their passions. Often, when we approach conversations with someone about their passions, our skill has nothing to do with us having the right answers; our skill resides in asking the right questions. For example, some of the following may help someone begin to connect the dots of their experiences and begin to discover their passions. What 3-4 events or projects do you remember working in that you loved? What about your work on each of those projects sticks out to you? Can you describe one type of responsibility you would like to be tasked with in your current work? How can you describe aspects of that responsibility that resonate with you? Can you articulate now (or think on in the coming days) what 3-4 things you know you need in your work to bring out your best contributions? As you think about your past top three work-related projects, which would you say stirred your passion? We must remember that the individual we are communicating with holds the keys to discovering and articulating their passion. When they “own” this discovery, they generally begin to create ideas on how to involve their areas of passion in their work.4. Motivate your people to work with excellence as their passions are leveraged. The great thing about this step is that as a leader, you do not have to “do” much in driving the motivation of your team members when you help them tap into their areas of passion. Once you and your team members have gained clarity on their passions, then together you begin to craft ways to incorporate their passion into their work. What ideas can you come up with as to how your passion may be more tapped into in your work? A simple question like this invites freedom and responsibility on the team member to think outside the box regarding how personal passions can be intertwined in work. Sometimes this may involve a shift of responsibilities. However, more often it involves you as a leader acknowledging the passions of each valuable and skilled team member, and then providing a bit of flexibility and encouragement for each person to utilize their passion in ways that may have not been recognized before.

I LOVE people development. I know that when I am able to help others discover their passions and then design plans to better incorporate those areas of passion into their lives and work – that is when I am at my best. This personal passion of mine to develop people and help them contribute to work and life in ways that resonate with the core of who they are connects to my other passion of helping teams improve their performance.

If you are a leader who wants to discover how to first, find and leverage your own passions to improve work performance, and then learn how to help your team members to do this, I would love to help! Shifting a work culture to a coaching culture may be a large-scale change. Because managing this type of culture change is what I do, I would love the opportunity to assist you with this.

I spent last week with coaches and athletic directors from the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) at their annual convention that I spoke at. What a dynamic, focused, and joyful group of people!

Kicking off the NCCAA Convention in St. Louis: Vision to WIN

Three things stood out to me about these leaders:1. Authenticity is attractive. In listening, observing, and talking with these leaders, I could tell there was a connection in “walking their talk.” Their personal convictions and value of their school and athletic program mission and purpose statements rang true.2. They possess an ethic of care and love for people over profit. In today’s world, this is refreshing and magnetic. This is not to say these coaches and athletic directors aren’t interested in the bottom line – whether it’s measured with their department/program budgets or their win-loss records. Their concerns for developing people around them to know and love Christ and live with meaning and purpose simply trumps their desire to “profit.”3. A sense of urgency to improve the performance of themselves as leaders, of their teams, and programs focuses them. Like most college coaches, desiring a general sense of improvement “down the road” isn’t good enough. Their openness and desire to learn launches their quest for leveraging tools and consulting strategies to equip their team to improve . . . now, this season, beginning today.

These key questions may help us reflect and grow as leaders:
• Am I authentic in my life and work? Do I “do” what I say is important?
• Do I value people or profit (measured in financial gain or wins) more than the other? How do my behaviors and attitudes reveal this?
• What is my sense of urgency to improve the performance of my leadership effectiveness and of my team in and out of the heat of battle?
• How attractive is my leadership?